Monthly Archives: May 2015

I try not to be fazed when people say I write light-weight books. Mainly, because I do. It’s hard to be taken aback when someone calls it as it is. I also write genre. Mysteries, to be exact. For the most part, they are well received, more so than I thought possible. I suspect that might be because while considered humorous and light-weight, my books are based on deeper stuff. In the Alvarez Family Mysteries for instance, the first book of the series takes place two years after the patriarch of the family dies. The protagonist (Lee) is fairly disassociated from her mother and brother, especially after the father’s unexpected death. What they still share is a business created by him, a detective agency in Silicon Valley. Through a set of circumstances – okay, a dead body, because it is a murder mystery, after all – they become close again. I threw in unconditional love in the form of an uncle, who loves all three of them, no matter what. In the best of all possible worlds, most of us could use someone like that. This odd, four-peopled family represent a lot of today’s family dynamics. Many readers see that. While the books might be labeled funny and light-weight, the reader often identifies with the underlying problems this small family manages to overcome. And most importantly, this is a family who reaches out, despite the fact they often don’t ‘get’ one another. But back to why I like short stories. After the initial draft, I look for feedback from friends and fellow writers. I have found that in short stories, short shorts, and flash fiction (so called for their extreme brevity), each and every word counts. Rambling is not permitted to the extent it is in a novel. Writing in…

When I was a kid, I asked my mother why people lied. She said, “Usually it’s because if that person tells the truth they won’t get what they want.” That’s probably more true than not. However, I find it interesting that there are so many words that mean a lie or liar, and most of them are just wonderful sounding. I mean, aren’t we wasting terrific words on something that’s supposed to be shameful and rotten? For instance, in Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Big Daddy uses the word ‘mendacity’ frequently. What ham actor wouldn’t want to scream that out to a packed house night after night? Tennessee Williams probably saved the word mendacity from obscurity. In today’s clime, it’s probably the only way anyone under thirty who didn’t major in Drama knows the word at all. If they do. It does have more than two syllables, after all. Then there’s the wonderful words ‘equivocator’ and ‘fabulist’. Equivocator sounds like someone who settles things, makes this right, equalizes them. And who wouldn’t want to be a fabulist? Maybe not if they knew what it meant, but going by the sheer sound of it, it’s fabulous. Yes, pun intended. Then there’s prevarication and taradiddle. Just great sounding words. I could go on and on, but as I am simply musing, my job is done here. But to carry this a little further, maybe there’s reason we have such inventive, colorful, and neat-sounding words for a liar. Possibly somewhere deep inside of each one of us, we are in awe of someone who can look us straight in the face and tell one helluva whopper. https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHavenStories http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/ Twitter@HeatherHaven Heather’s author page at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Heather-Haven/e/B004QL22UK/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1372537066&sr=1-2-ent Email me at: Heather@HeatherHavenStories.com

The Culinary Art of Murder, Book 6 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, is now available at Amazon!

Blurb:
Lee’s Uncle Tío is smitten with the lady guest chef at a Silicon Valley culinary art institute. When the lady is arrested for two murders, a fellow chef, and the dishwasher, Lee agrees to help find the real killer. But undercover work at the institute proves to be more dangerous than whipping up a chocolate soufflé. Can she find the murderer before her own goose is cooked? If it turns out to be the ambitious southern belle chef, will Tío ever forgive Lee for sending his new lady love to jail?

Honeymoons Can Be Murder is now available for download only at Amazon!

When PI Lee Alvarez goes on her honeymoon with bridegroom, Gurn Hanson, they find a dead woman practically on their doorstep. Kauai breezes may be soft, but there are gale force winds of accusation against Gurn. Will Lee find the real killer before her new hubby gets sent to a Hawaiian hoosegow?

Books

The reviews are in!
Bestthrillers.com - The Culinary Art of Murder "The Bottom Line: This cozy mystery has it all – romance, suspense, comedy and a detective you’ll fall hard for."